


Life's Blood in a Valley of Death

by NaoTatsuya



Category: Code Vein (Video Game)
Genre: Blood is very important, Death, F/M, I'm still playing through the game, Like really really important, Memory Loss, Rebirth, Vampires, mate bond, vampire mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:18:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22460155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaoTatsuya/pseuds/NaoTatsuya
Summary: Rose was a Revenant. Wondering through the Gaol of the Mists was a normal occurence. No knowledge of her past, she searches the Gaol for answers, but what is life to someone who can never truly die? Yet, sweet blood sings, and it doesn't belong to a human or a blood bead. The only time such things have happened is in what is essentially legend. After all, most can't find their mate when a majority of revenants are turning into the Lost day in and day out.
Relationships: Louis/OC - Relationship, Protagonist/Yakumo Shinonome
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I started Code Vein and fell in love with the game. Needless to say, it's great. But, I got to a scene that made me feel so much for the protagonist and I decided to write a fic which may hinge from an aspect of said scene.
> 
> Disclaimer: I Don't Own Code Vein. I never will. All Code Vein characters, themes, what have you, is owned by Code Vein's own creators

Walking along the city ruins, Rose keeps an eye and ear out for any movement. The Lost were more numerous with each passing day after all. After the Queen’s defeat, and well before then even, everything had gone to shit. Spikes protruding up from the ground for no reason, and the local landscape being torn asunder. The worst of it all, though, had to be the toxic miasma that lingered in the air. The miasma forced her and the other revenants to wear masks which purified the air. Without the mask, any revenant that breathed in the miasma would lose themselves to their blood thirst and go into a frenzy before eventually becoming one of the Lost.

Eventually, all revenants will one day become one of the Lost. For some, it was a quicker process, and for others, it was slower. The Lost reveled in their blood thirst and stayed forever frenzied. Always looking for blood and willing to attack anything that moved. A never-ending cycle awaited revenants: birth, thirst, death, rebirth, and eventually transformation into a Lost. Yet, some were luckier than others.

Rose comes to stop at a large cocoon. _There was once a monster butterfly here. I wonder what happened to it?_ As she examines the space before her, a sweet scent blinds her. _Blood? But whose?_ It wasn’t human blood or that of a blood bead, as rare as they are. The blood…was different. She couldn’t quite explain what it was about the blood that drew her in, but a quality of it clouded her mind except for one thing: find the source.

She goes to follow the scent further past the cocoon only to find a blood spring, but it was blooming blood beads. _What is this? The springs have been all but dried up. How can this be?_ Reaching for a blood bead, she grabs one carefully and releases it from the spring. Sniffing the bead, she stores it away into her pack. Not even a bit of interest for the nourishment. No hunger or thirst for it at all.

“The blood’s source must be nearby. It’s still fresh after all.” She wonders pushing her silver bangs back from her sky, blue eyes.

Rose spots an archway bordered by the black and golden spires that littered the world of the Gaol of the Mists. Reaching for her well-used and well-maintained halberd, which she set down when grabbing the blood bead, she walks through to find a massive trench network on the other side of the arch. Low voices filled the air before going quiet as she rounded the corner. Three revenants stood before her, two of whom were male and the other female.

One of the male revenants wielded a large sword on his shoulder, and his red hair was pulled back into a short ponytail with bangs framing his face. He wore his blood veil, a type used by heavy blade and blunt weapon wielders that provides a lot of armor, over his shoulders but zipped at the neck. His light yellow-green eyes peered at her distrustfully as he moved slightly in front of the lone female of their group. The other was dark haired which obscured all but one ruby red eye. This revenant wielded a much smaller sword than his companion, and he was dressed a bit more formally: a white button up with a vest and slacks versus the tank top and camo pants. Around his neck, a silver chain necklace with two rings lied. He was also a bit shorter than his companion with his head resting right at his shoulder. The lone female peered at her with lilac eyes from behind the red haired man. She wielded a well-used bayonet and wore a skin tight, leather-like gray shirt with a black frayed skirt around her waist. Creeping up her arms and legs were black wrappings which were met by a slightly lighter pair of heeled boots.

Hefting her halberd onto her shoulder, Rose slowly walks forward. Her eyes shift from each member until they stop on the dark-haired man. Discreetly, she sniffs the air. The sweet scent of blood flows to him and him alone. She tilts her head once she stops before them.

“Y’all have some trouble earlier? The scent of blood was pretty strong back there.” She says nonchalantly.

The red-haired man narrows his eyes and creeps forward with a light growl on the tip of his tongue only to be stopped by the arm of his shorter companion as the woman stays behind him.

“Yakumo. She isn’t being a threat, _yet_.” The dark-haired man tells the taller of the two, Yakumo. “Anyway, there was a human who recently left for a government shelter. She was being abused by a group of revenants that lurk around here.”

Rose hums softly and notices the man’s red eye widen for a second before going back to normal.

“If that’s the case then what are you boys doing all the way out here? The blood spring is alive and well, stocked full with blood beads. No need to go searching anymore for them.” Rose goes to inform them turning her head slightly to look behind her.

“We aren’t searching for blood beads, per say, but we are searching for blood springs. We are following the blood veins from the blood springs to try and find the source for blood beads.” His soft yet warm voice states as he’s looking straight at her startling Yakumo.

Rose startles slightly. Researching the source of blood beads? Strange choice, but a welcome one. Very few revenants had the option to not rely on blood beads for sustenance. Yet, those were two vastly different group, one rarer than the other too.

A group of revenants who had a human with them could forego the reliance on blood beads, but that group usually let to the abuse and death of the human. Yet, the question of the rights of the majority versus the rights of the minority raged on amongst the Gaol. The revenants of those groups feeling they can treat the human however they wanted just because the human only had to give blood all the while the revenants had to go off searching for blood beads day in and day out (as slave labor for various revenant groups) to adhere to Silva’s levy system while starving and risking their very selves for said levy system.

_But that doesn’t mean we can treat them as less than a person, no more than an animal or worse. To survive, we have to work together, or we all will fall._

The second group of revenants who had no need to rely were mated pairs, but even finding one’s mate was extremely rare, especially now that so many revenants were becoming Lost. A mated pair had no real need for blood beads or human blood, but they could still drink it. Mated pairs instead could sustain each other on their mate’s blood. Even a little bit of a mate’s blood was said to sustain a revenant for the duration of just _one_ blood bead. Yet, due to the rarity of the occurrence of a mated pair, many revenants believed having a mate might be a myth.

“Well, I wish you luck, especially up ahead. The trenches are a hassle to explore. It’s quite frankly a huge maze and easy to get turned around. Not to mention the Lost that roam it.” Rose cautions as she walks past them along the narrow walkway. Hearing the groaning sound of a Lost to her right, she swings her halberd through the catch of flesh until it releases and sees the red particles as the Lost disperses.

She hears a sigh behind her and disregards the murmurs that follow. Rather adamant murmurs, at that, but she refuses to eavesdrop. Softly walking onward, she keeps an eye out for any Lost that may linger behind walls or hang off the edge of the path. Lunging at another Lost groan she hears, many footfalls sound behind her. Suddenly, a strong stinging sensation explodes from her back followed closely by pain and the cool moist feeling of blood. Gritting her teeth, she turns arching her halberd’s swing only to stop as someone appears suddenly from a shower of red particles. When the particles have cleared, the dark-haired man from earlier lowers his sword and turns to her as the Lost who attacked her disperses.

He drops down to kneel before her. His one visible eye glows a brighter red than before, and his eye searches her for more wounds. Seeing the wound to her back, he frowns and reaches for his wrist. Bringing his wrist to his mouth, he bites down and offers her his blood as it flows from the bite. He smiles softly as she looks to him shocked.

“You could have just come out and stated you thought we might be mates. After all, my two friends here are a mated couple after all. I’ve seen the signs of mates meeting for the first time.” He calmly says looking at her. “And, before you ask. Your eyes were glowing as if there was blood in the air like mine are now. Yakumo and Luna were much the same in the presence of each other’s blood. Anyway, the name’s Louis.”

He brings his bloodied wrist closer to her and leans closer too.

“Just drink it. You must be starving, anyway. We just found a way to rejuvenate the blood springs recently anyway. Go on. We can talk more in length about our bond later and start to get to know one another too. But for now just drink.” He insists softly with a kind look in his eye.

As Rose leans forward to grasp his wrist, she brings her mouth to the bloodied wrist. Taking in the blood, she almost moans at its sweetness but refrains. Louis rests his forehead in her hair.

“I thought there wouldn’t be anyone I would be so close to again after the Collapse.” He says so softly she almost doesn’t hear him.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few days since Rose first met Louis and his companions. They had all traveled from the trenches back to the home base. Louis had insisted she rest before they talk. Now thinking on it, their home base was nothing more than a church with a hole busted in one of the outer walls giving a view of the Gaol. The main room of the base showcased a bar, two shops (one for various useful items and the other for weapons and blood veils), a seating area with plush couches, a small library, and a hot spring. The basement was used for storage, and there were various other rooms.

Rose had briefly met the other revenants living at the base, but she only shared few words with them. There were the merchants: Rin Murasame (just Murasame) and Coco. Murasame was a short, brown-eyed girl with auburn hair pulled into a ponytail, and Coco was a taller blonde woman with silver eyes. Murasame handled the weapons, blood veils, and upkeep for said items while Coco sold the items which could be used out in the Gaol like ichor. Then, there was Davis, a member of the current government that ruled the Gaol, who was an explorer of the Depths. Yakumo and Luna were silent after the return to the base, but Rose caught on that Luna was one of few words.

Now, Rose was looking out over the Gaol. She was feeling a bit stir crazy. She was used to always moving about ever since she was last revived a few years ago, not long after the Queen was defeated. Yet, here, she had been still in one place for longer than comfortable. She turns at the sound of footsteps behind her and smell of blood. Louis had walked up with a glass filled with a small amount of blood.

“I hope you’ve settled in alright.” He says in a calm tone.

“Besides some restlessness, yes I have.” Her eyes sweep over him as he offers the glass.

“It’s a bit of my blood. Yakumo explained what is real from myth to me about mates not long after he accepted Luna. We don’t need much of each other’s blood to survive.” He informs her kindly with a slight smile as she takes the glass.

Rose nods as she takes a sip from the glass.

“I can say I only know a bit of truth from the myth from meeting a mated pair a few years back. They took me in after I awoke. Good people. I hope they’re alright.” Rose replies thoughtfully.

He hums lightly at that bringing a hand to his chin and tilting his head slightly.

“Anything you remember before then?”

“No. I have no memory from before I awoke after the Queen’s defeat.”

Finishing the blood from the glass, Rose uses one of her gifts to cast a wall of ice around the edges of the glass. She reaches down into one of her knee-high boots to grab a small dagger. She cuts her wrist with the blade and lets her blood fill the glass before offering it to Louis.

“You don’t have to do that. We have some blood beads available that I can drink from if I need to.” He sounds surprised.

“You’ve offered me your blood twice now, Louis. We’re mates, no matter if we know nothing of one another. Drink it.” She insists.

He goes to drink from the glass as a pair of footsteps approach them. Looking behind him, Rose can see Yakumo and Luna approach. Luna’s long black bangs swaying as she stops beside Louis and gives them both a smile. Yakumo stands a bit behind Luna watching both Rose and Louis as Louis drinks from the glass.

“We’re ready to head back out if you both are.” Luna’s clear voice states.

“You would have me join you?” Rose answers shocked and wide eyed.

Luna shifts slightly.

“Why not? You’re Louis’s mate and seem to know the area really well. Don’t you?” She asks as Yakumo huffs behind her.

Rose nods and receives a gentle smile from Louis as Luna’s lilac eyes brighten considerably.

“Where have y’all been to though if I may ask?” Rose asks to Louis.

Someone clears their throat.

“We’ve been through the old city and reached the trenches as you saw, but we did find a large hole in the ground within the city.” Yakumo’s gruff voice chimes in.

“So, you haven’t explored the pit yet?”

“Pit?” Luna asks confused.

“It’s known as the Howling Pit. The place is mostly flooded and filled with venom slimes, Lost, and insect monsters. It does hold a blood spring, though, but as far as I know, the state of the place is why most refuse to enter it.” Rose explains as Louis nods to her answer.

“We had planned to check that blood spring at some point, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do so before exploring the trenches. Getting down the Pit though is a bit tricky as the elevator sometimes get stuck on the bottom entrance only to work again when someone presses the pressure plate within.” Louis states.

“Let’s go there then, but how will be getting down?” Luna decides.

Rose turns to the shorter revenant and gives a fanged smile.

“By jumping down of course.” Rose says with a light laugh at the girl’s shocked face. 


End file.
